South Korea’s No. 1 and No. 3 refiners, looking overseas at a time of weakening earnings at home, are competing to buy independent Australian fuel retailer United Petroleum.

A delegate walks past the SK Innovation logo at the 22nd World Energy Congress Oct. 14.

Bloomberg News

S-Oil Corp., Korea’s third-largest refiner by output and 35%-owned by Saudi Arabian Oil Company, said in a filing to the Korea Exchange that it has submitted a “nonbinding indicative offer” for United Petroleum. It didn’t provide details of its bid.

Just three weeks ago, its bigger rival SK Innovation Co., Korea’s largest refiner and an affiliate of conglomerate SK Group, also disclosed a nonbinding bid for the Australian firm through its wholly owned refining unit SK Energy.

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United Petroleum operates a chain of gas stations across Australia and sells bulk fuel products to other independent service stations, fuel distributors, mining sites and marinas. It also owns fuel import terminals, which prevents dependence on local refineries and ensures supply.

Earlier this year, United Petroleum hired KPMG Corporate Finance to consider its options, including a sale or joint venture, in a deal that could be worth up to 1 billion Australian dollars (US$924 million) including debt, according to a person familiar with the matter.

According to data from the Korea Petroleum Association, exports of oil products to Australia by Korean refiners jumped to $3.08 billion last year from $959 million in 2008. In the first 10 months of this year, exports of oil products totaled $2.64 billion.

In a separate deal announced in mid-October, S-Oil won a contract from United Terminals Pty to supply gasoline and diesel worth 1.75 trillion won, or 5% of its total revenues, for two years until Oct. 7, 2015.